JEDDAH, 24 October — Gulf Air, which recently held its annual party for top Western Province agents in Jeddah, is reviewing its options for action to preserve the operations in the immediate future, according to Ibrahim A. Al Hamer, president and chief executive of the airline. He said: “Following the events of Sept. 11, the industry suffered a global downturn of around 30 percent in revenue passenger kilometers (RPK). Some recovery has taken place but the industry expects capacity reductions to be between 10-20 percent over the next three months. He put the industry pre-crisis losses at $3 billion at the end of August and these were now thought to be nearer $10 billion, forecasting major difficulties and possible failures without governments’ support. For September, according to him, the airline showed a decline of six percent in passengers carried, 3.9 percent in seat factor and eight percent in RPK. “The two weeks of October show a decline of 20.4 percent in passengers carried, 10.4 percent in seat factor and 25.6 percent in RPK. These results are below breakeven levels. The comparison is with the same months in 2000. The previously announced schedule of reductions will continue for the time being.” The airline recently suspended flights to Peshawar and also had plans to suspend services to two points in the Gulf consisting of six flights until further notice. Al Hamer added. Gulf Air, the national carrier of Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, Oman and Qatar also announced its present plan to reduce its fleet from 30 to 26 aircraft during 2002. At the Jeddah event, Abdul Malik Al-Saei, the airline’s manager for the Kingdom, awarded some agencies distinction and appreciation certificates.
